Liz Cheney on War & Peace

ISIS: Rarely has a president been so wrong

As the terrorists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) threaten Baghdad, thousands of slaughtered Iraqis in their wake, it is worth recalling a few of President Obama's past statements about ISIS and al Qaeda. "If a J.V. team puts on
Lakers' uniforms that doesn't make them Kobe Bryant" (January 2014). "[C]ore al Qaeda is on its heels, has been decimated" (August 2013). "So, let there be no doubt: The tide of war is receding" (September 2011).

Rarely has a U.S. president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many. Too many times to count, Mr. Obama has told us he is "ending" the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan--as though wishing made it so. His rhetoric has
now come crashing into reality. Watching the black-clad ISIS jihadists take territory once secured by American blood is final proof, if any were needed, that America's enemies are not "decimated." They are emboldened and on the march.

Iran & North Korea understand nothing but power & strength

Q: One of the biggest foreign policy issues is the agreement this administration just negotiated with Iran. Since you worked in the State Department, what do you think of the plan?

CHENEY: The president's foreign policy is a disaster. [One pundit]
wrote, "At what point can we legitimately ask why President Obama is protecting and facilitating the Iran nuclear program?" It is clear that the Israelis feel we pulled the rug out from under them, as we have. The president's actions are taking us closer
to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. These countries don't trust us, nor do they believe they will be protected under our nuclear umbrella. We need people in Congress that will not just speak out, but take actions to block this president's bad
policies. We should have learned from the times in the Bush administration when some wanted to negotiate with Iran and North Korea. These rogue regimes will try to play us every chance they can get. The only thing they understand is power and strength.

Liberate nations that have been havens for terror

Q: You have said America is safer when it takes steps to liberate foreign nations from dictatorships. But you expressed skepticism about the course of action the President advocated with respect to Bashar Assad?

A: I think there are some instances
where U.S. security is threatened by rogue regimes, by foreign dictators, and there are some instances where liberating nations helps to restore our security. Afghanistan, I would say Iraq--places that had been havens for terror.
The problem in Syria is that if the President had acted two years ago, it would be different. What was on the table wasn't, "Should we liberate the Syrian people from Bashar Assad?" What was on the table was conducting limited strikes.
Basically the President was saying we should do this to send a message. And I'm never going to be for the use of military force to send a message.

No military action against Syria; we have no defined goals

Liz Cheney would not vote to attack Syria if she were in the U.S. Senate. Cheney said she could not support military action against Syria because President Barack Obama has failed to develop a plan for intervention with defined goals. Obama has taken "an
amateurish approach to national security and foreign policy," including the developing conflict in Syria, she said.

He should have supported Syrian rebel forces two years ago, Cheney said, before Islamist radicals became part of that opposition.

Source: Jackson Hole News and Guide, "Cheney Knocks"
, Sep 4, 2013

Syrian Government's behaviors are destabilizing the region

With respect to Syria, we feel very strongly that the Syrian people are not represented by a kind of government that they deserve. In addition the Syrian people [have a right] to have a voice, to be able to have a free and independent press, to be able
to express themselves. And we've called on the Government of Syria to respect the human rights of all of those dissidents who are currently imprisoned in Syria.

The Government of Syria has isolated itself from the international community not just
because of its treatment of its own people, but also because it continues to support Palestinian rejectionist groups, it continues to oppress the people of Lebanon and it continues to funnel insurgents and to support the funneling of insurgents into
Iraq. This isn't just an issue of the US supporting democracy in Syria, but the Syrian Government itself needs to recognize that its behaviors are destabilizing the region and that there's been a broad international call for it to stop those behaviors.

People of Iran deserve to be free of Ahmadinejad

With respect to Iran, the President has been entirely clear that the United States stands with the people of Iran and that we believe that people everywhere deserve to be free and that the people of Iran deserve that as well, that they have made clear
their desire to be free, that they are suffering now under [the current] government. President Ahmadinejad [does not head] a government that is representative of the hopes and aspirations of the Iranian people.

Iraqi elections provide new sense of regional possibility

The Iraqi election on January 30 had a profound impact across the region; everybody who watched on TV that day was moved by the bravery and power of the Iraqi people. What we're seeing I think are people feeling inspired and a beginning of a lifting of
the burden of fear. You sense it when you talk to people; you see it in the bravery of the Lebanese people gathered in Martyrs' Square. It's a new sense of what is possible to talk about and to do. There is tremendous progress in the region and we want
to do whatever we can to help support it.

President Bush has said that the US will support reformers in the Middle East, but many Arab activists and intellectuals say that US involvement hurts rather than helps. How can the US support reformers who
reject its assistance? We are guided in all of what we do by individual people in countries who are working for freedom. We provide support to people who want the support.